For the first time
in recorded history, Americans are eating more shrimp than canned tuna,
the Commerce Department’s National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
announced today. According to NOAA’s 2001 Fisheries of the United
States report, seafood consumption in the U.S. decreased in 2001, by 2.1
percent, with Americans eating 4.2 billion pounds of domestic and imported
fish and shellfish.

Officials from NOAA’s
National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA
Fisheries) said that per capita, Americans ate about 14.8 pounds of
seafood per person last year. Of these, 10.3 pounds were fresh or frozen
fish or shellfish (including 1.1 pound of farm-raised catfish), 4.2 pounds
were canned seafood, and 0.3 pound was cured. Compared to 2000 figures,
that represents a 10 percent decrease in canned products, a 1 percent
increase in fresh/frozen products and a 3 percent increase in fillets
and steaks.

Americans also ate
a record 3.4 pounds of shrimp per person in 2001, with an overall consumption
increase of 9 percent. The 17 percent decrease in canned tuna consumption
is attributed to a decline in imports and the closure of two domestic
canneries in the United States in 2001.

The latest data from
the Food and Agriculture Organization show that the U.S. ranks as the
third largest consumer of seafood in the world, importing 76 percent of
its seafood fare.

Every decade, the
Census Bureau of the United States
revises its estimates of U.S. population trends to reflect the latest
population numbers. This action requires NOAA Fisheries statisticians
to update their population-related data, including seafood consumption.
Consumption figures for 2000 and 2001 have been completed. The Census
Bureau has not finalized the revised monthly population estimates for
the 1990s, so revised per capita data for these years cannot be provided
at this time. Additional information is contained in the attached fact
sheet.

NOAA
Fisheries is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living
marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement
and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species
and their habitat. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries, please visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov.

PER
CAPITA U.S. CONSUMPTION
Figures in Pounds

Year

Civilian
Resident Population Million Persons

Fresh
and Frozen

Canned

Cured

Total

2000

280.9

10.2

4.7

0.3

15.2

2001

283.6

10.3

4.2

0.3

14.8

U.S.
ANNUAL PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF CANNED FISHERY PRODUCTS, 2000—2001

Year

Salmon

Sardines

Tuna

Shellfish

Other

Total

2000

0.3

0.2

3.5

0.3

0.4

4.7

2001

0.4

0.2

2.9

0.3

0.4

4.2

U.S.
ANNUAL PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF CERTAIN FISHERY ITEMS, 2001—2002

Year

Fillets
and Steaks

Sticks
and Portions

Shrimp,
All Preparation

2000

3.3

0.9

3.2

2001

3.4

0.8

3.4

Note
The NOAA Fisheries’ calculation of per capita consumption is based
on a disappearance model. The total U.S. supply of imports and landings
is converted to edible weight and decreases in supply such as exports
and inventories are subtracted out. The remaining total is divided by
a population value to estimate per capita consumption. Data for the
model are derived primarily from secondary sources and are subject to
incomplete reporting; changes in source data or invalid model assumptions
may each have a significant effect on the resulting calculation.